This part continues the analysis of the second part of “The Dawn of Man” in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick. It covers all scenes and sequences that take place on the space station Dr. Floyd was flying to during the space waltz sequence (and which was discussed in the last part). Besides a visual analysis this part will also mark the first one that will take a look at the dialogue spoken by the characters.

(Note: All images are copyright Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) and used solely for the purpose of analyzing 2001.)

After the space waltz sequence finishes with a close-up/fly-by of the exterior of the rotating station, Kubrick cuts right to the arrival of Dr. Floyd at the “reception” of the station.

After the analysis of the first 16 minutes of 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick this part continues the series by looking at the beginning of the second half of “The Dawn of Man” – the space waltz sequence that introduces us with the future.

(Note: All images are copyright Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) and used solely for the purpose of analyzing 2001.)

After the death of the ape in the first part of the movie, the bone-wielder thrusts its “tool” flying into the air. Exactly at that moment, Kubrick cuts to the future:

This “match” cut, which visually connects the first image with the later, is not without reason one of the most stated cuts in the history of film.

After analyzing the overall structure we can now begin to look at the movie in detail. This part of the series will analyze the first 16 minutes of 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick.

(Note: All images are copyright Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) and used solely for the purpose of analyzing 2001)

(Another note: as stated in the introduction part of this series, this analysis will work almost solely on certain images or moments. Therefore it is written in a purely linear way, from the beginning of the movie to the end and might therefore be not the usual film analysis you find on the net)

The first part of the chapter “The Dawn of Man” can be seen as one of the most unusual beginning of a movie ever printed on

Analyzing the overall structure of 2001: A Space Odyssey seems to be rather easy since Stanley Kubrick added titles to important chapters of the movie (with exception of “Intermission” which is marks a break for the audience in some cinemas (and is missing in all TV versions of the movie I know of)).

Going by the title cards in the movie it contains three chapters:

But now a problem kicks in. The problem is the fact that an important part of the movie plays on a completely different time but isn’t marked with a title. Of course, I am talking about the early third of the movie which shows Dr. Floyd and the monolith on the moon. If you add this section to the structure you get something

I consider 2001: A Space Odyssey, finished by Stanley Kubrick in 1968, one of the best movies of all time. Currently, it ranks second in my personal list of movies. I have watched this masterpiece so many times and it still does not feel worn out to me. In fact the more I watch it the more I love it. Indeed it is one of the best works of Kubrick, one of the biggest visionaries of cinema.

2001 is but far more than a movie to simply love. It is, more than most other examples, a movie made to be analyzed thoroughly. Each shot, each cut, and each sequence – even more: each action – is important and has a deep meaning for Kubrick. Because otherwise he wouldn’t have

The actors, movies and production crews portrayed in this motion picture blog are fictitious. Any similarity to actors or persons or movies or production crews, fictitious or real, is entirely coincidental and unintentional.